There can be few businesses in the modern economy that are unfamiliar with the principle of paying the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to their staff, whether at the top rate of £7.50 an hour for workers over the age of 25 (increasing to £7.83 from April 1st 2018) or at the lower rates applicable to younger age groups and apprentices.

However, the current status quo does not seem to have entirely inhibited the creative endeavours of less scrupulous employers eager to avoid complying with the minimum wage regulations.

Despite the deterrent of the hefty fines that can be levied by HMRC for non payment, it seems that some employers have taken it upon themselves to act as arbiters of whether their workers “deserve” to be paid the minimum rate prescribed by law. A recently published list of the top 10 excuses for not paying the NMW compiled by HMRC has exposed some of the more tenuous reasoning used by employers to justify underpaying staff such as:

• It’s part of UK culture not to pay young workers for the first 3 months as they have to prove their ‘worth’ first.
• I thought it was okay to pay foreign workers below the National Minimum Wage as they aren’t British and therefore don’t have the right to be paid it.
• She doesn’t deserve the National Minimum Wage because she only makes the teas and sweeps the floors.
• I’ve got an agreement with my workers that I won’t pay them the National Minimum Wage; they understand and they even signed a contract to this effect.
• My accountant and I speak a different language – he doesn’t understand me and that’s why he doesn’t pay my workers the correct wages.
• My workers like to think of themselves as being self-employed and the National Minimum Wage doesn’t apply to people who work for themselves.
• My workers are often just on standby when there are no customers in the shop; I only pay them for when they’re actually serving someone.

Needless to say, such self-serving arguments have not tended to cut any ice with the HMRC’s investigators.

With HMRC having ramped up its enforcement regime in recent times, employers would be well advised to ensure they familiarise themselves with the legal requirements associated with the minimum wage legislation. Employees who find themselves disadvantaged by rogue business should also be aware that they can take action to recover arrears of wages if they have been paid below the prescribed rate and, in some cases, HMRC may step in to take the employer to court themselves.

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